Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Tide Pool Dog - Starfish, Snapping Crabs and Good Smells

Here I am way out on the tidal flats

Yay! when I woke up from my morning nap the tide was out. All kinds of good smells were coming from the inlet. Sandspit is located between the wild ocean of Hecate Strait and the calmer waters of Skidegate Inlet and our B&B is just across the street from the Inlet.

I found my trail down to the beach and we started walking on the wet rocks. Pretty soon we were in paw high water slogging through the seaweed and crunching along on the rocks. I spent my time with my nose to the water and found tons of good smells. I was smart and didn't drink any of the salt water.

I don't get why the humans are interested in these boring things.

We got to the edge of the tide pools and saw something amazing. There were sea stars in all kinds of colors. I sniffed at them but they didn't move or anything. I lost interest. I moved on to turn over some rocks with my paw to see what might be lurking under them. All of a sudden I heard something in the air. I looked up and it was AN EAGLE! There I was out in the open. Would the eagle get me? Nope, the eagle was interested in fish. Phew!

Here's that eagle...soaring and looking

We kept wading. I kept sniffing and saw something orange in some seaweed. I went over to it and it MOVED! I put my head down to see if I could chase it and the darn thing came at me with huge snapping claws. It was a CRAB! I pulled my nose away mighty quick and saved myself from getting hurt. I decided to leave that crab alone. It settled back into the tidepool and folded its claws. Phew!

Here's the crab and his BIG claws!

Later I found out that was a Red Rock Crab and is edible but tastes really sweet. I just thought it best to stay away, sweet or not.

So we wandered around a bit more and then decided to go back to the B&B for lunch.

It must be time for my afternoon nap. What an exciting morning it has been!